Staredit Network

I didn't post this in the terrain forum because a solution may not relate to the terrain entirely.

Hi. :] I'm working on a map, very much like diplomacy in only that it is shaped like Europe. The map has come a long way, and I have the land all placed out. The terrain is completely redrawn. While the terrain is blocky, I do not feel it takes away from the game - so whether or not something is blocky is not the issue. I am using Jungle terrain, and on the map I have normal (dirt) terrain and higher ground (high dirt) which uses single cel slopes on all directions instead of cliffs (looks okay in my opinion). The one problem I am having is how to prevent units - which aren't designated as "water" units (certain units are allowed to walk on this terrain, others aren't) - from being dropped into the water via dropships.

Now, the map is of Europe, so before you say "get rid of dropships," there are islands where a lack of dropships would give places like the UK an unfair advantage.

Originally I used the creep terrain for this (because I felt it looked the best), but it is the same level as dirt. In an attempt to prevent land units from walking on water, I started laying down locations. After about an hour's worth of work, I realized that I would have capped the 255 location limit even if I built the terrain to fit the locations more (by reducing the single- and double-spaced locations).

If I use high temple (which I am currently not using in the map), I can remove all unwanted units from the water with a single location. I am tempted to turn to this, but there is the ugly result of water being higher than all the land.

There are "water" units. They are land units but will be removed if placed into dropships so they will never see the light of ... dirt.

I see my last resorts as these:
Making high ground high temple, which would look bad, as I'd have to remove all the slopes (which took me hours upon hours to make), and dirt high ground (making water dirt).
Making it so dropships can only carry SCV's and maybe some infantry (removing strategy from the map, but I am more likely to follow with this).
Making water high temple (the hit-miss relation doesn't bother me, just the inability to explore as well and not see water units if they're coming).

If anyone likes any of the above options more than the others, please say. And if anyone has any solutions, please suggest them. Thanks.

I can't really help you without a posted map ;\ cause there's a few ways upon doing this depending on your terrain.

Okay. Here's the map, if it helps at all. I stripped it of all its triggers and defaulted some units to reduce the size - the terrain, in my opinion, is all you need to see. Although it might help to know that there is a building on the "water" that produces "water" (ground) units.

Sorry Im too lazy to read that long text you posted but anyway I dont understand "units walking on water" What a ...... Why I havent heard about things like that. Please tell me

See he's calling something like dirt terrain water. This is so he can use units like subs. It's not really water, but you gotta use your imagination.

Oh thanks, now I get it! But why not to use real water? whats the problem?

..... Have you Ever seen any units acutally MOVE on water? -.-
Anyways, why don't you use the highest terrain possible for the land, and the lowest terrain possible for water? (dark mud)

There are many reasons. For a serious strategy game, water does not work. Units don't correctly walk on water. They can walk across water, but they can't start on water. Units cannot stop and attack other units on the water. Also, if a building is on water and a unit is built, it will say that the building exit is blocked. Most importantly, if a unit is on the water they get "angry" or whatever and they become difficult to control. So I used a stable terrain.

Nope I dont get it! Why someone would want that unit move over the water? Do you mean boats? Use aircraft and ground unit.

I'm worried it'll look really bad, and I'll be throwing a lot of work I already did, esp. with the slopes, out the window.

I recently thought that I'd just use a few larger locations to designate zones in the water where land units could absolutely not touch ground. Water units would definitely have the advantage, as they have the only unit that can siege (edmund duke is allowed to siege, the normal terran siege tank does 0 damage when sieged), so players could easily take out land units on the water.

ADDITION:


Using aircraft is messy because players will accidentally fly over land - this looks stupid IMO and would require too much micromanagement, esp. if you wanted to prevent units from flying over land, as you would have to destroy them or create dozens of locations for them to teleport back to. Yuck!

I am using ground units after much, much thinking about this map. Suddenly one day it hit me - the idea of "water" and using land units. I was considering both air and land units at the time (because I wanted an aircraft *carrier*), but eventually I felt that for the most authentic "boat" feel you would need to use solely land units to simulate these ships.

I think that idea isn't too good because ground unit doesn't look like ships. No sorry vulture could look like a ship but that is only one unit. Whel I dono about this

lol. From what I've tested, the units I chose look acceptable... one of them is questionable, but necessary. Infantry, on the other hand, do not look good at all.

Please tell me which unit have you chosen? Let me gues a vulture a tank a reaver and not the zerg. Am I wright?

Nope. Didn't use a reaver. ;D Used four units -
Vultures (Jim Raynor) are destroyers. Vulture mines can detect and do a lot of damage to...
Zerg Lurkers - submarines. Do good damage, but die easily.
Edmund Duke, Siege Tank is the battleship. Naval power comes into play here as these ships do a good deal of damage. Normal mode does more damage, though.
And there's the Goliath (hero).

O nooo it can not be HAHAHAHA! Im sorry but Zerg Lurkers and Goliath as ships ! (Zerg Lurkers - submarines) come on submarines can move and when they aren't burroved they dont look as ships at all. And the goliaths aren't better.
But please dont take this too hard because I didn't want to be rude.

Okay, the method I have requires two things: Hyper triggers. A limit of one dropship per player. The method is simple, really. The dropship will not be able to tranverse cliffs or go over doodads, and will be, essentially, a land unit that picks up units. I'm sorry, but it is all I can think of. Okay, now onto the triggers:

Trigger

Conditions:

¤ Always

Actions:

¤ Center location labeled 'Dropship' on all Dropship owned by Current Player at anywhere.

¤ Move all 'Burrowed Zerg Unit' at anywhere to 'Dropship'.

¤ Preserve Trigger.

Trigger

Conditions:

¤ Current Player brings exactly 1 Dropship to 'Dropship'

¤ Current Player brings exactly 0 "Burrowed Zerg Unit" at anywhere to 'Dropship'

Actions:

¤ Center location labeled 'Move back' on Burrowed Zerg Unit.

¤ Move 1 Dropship for Current Player at 'Dropship' to 'Move Back'.

¤ Preserve Trigger.

I have seen a map where ground units can walk on water. Ever seen Kenoli's ice fishing map? I am wonder how he made units walk on water,but the units walking on the water seem like they are stacked on something.

Defense type map,dont remember how it was called,something like Matrix Elements....
In this map somehow units were walking on buildings, is that not the same that to walk on water?

That's a very nice idea.
For the other posts, I have no idea how to make units appropriately walk on water without becoming trapped on land (when they arrive near land, they run onto it and can't go back into the water).

You may want to look at the Unit Halt tutorial; you may be able to use a modification of those systems.
They're quite similar to Theoretical_Human's idea.